curie

/ˈkjʊərɪ; -riː/

noun

1.

a unit of radioactivity that is equal to 3.7 × 1010 disintegrations per second Ci

Word Origin

C20: named after Pierre Curie

Curie

/ˈkjʊərɪ; -riː; French kyri/

noun

1.

Marie (mari). 1867–1934, French physicist and chemist, born in Poland: discovered with her husband Pierre the radioactivity of thorium, and discovered and isolated radium and polonium. She shared a Nobel prize for physics (1903) with her husband and Henri Becquerel, and was awarded a Nobel prize for chemistry (1911)

Polish-born French chemist. She shared a 1903 Nobel Prize with her husband, Pierre Curie (1859-1906), and Henri Becquerel (1852-1908) for fundamental research on radioactivity. In 1911 she won a second Nobel Prize for her discovery and study of the elements radium and polonium.

(kyr'ē, ky-rē') A unit used to measure the rate of radioactive decay. Radioactive decay is measured by the rate at which the atoms making up a radioactive substance are transformed into different atoms. One curie is equal to 37 billion (3.7 × 1010) of these transformations per second. Many scientists now measure radioactive decay in becquerels rather than curies.

curie

in physics, unit of activity of a quantity of a radioactive substance, named in honour of the French physicist Marie Curie. One curie (1 Ci) is equal to 3.71010 becquerel (Bq). In 1975 the becquerel replaced the curie as the official radiation unit in the International System of Units (SI).